Alarming Out-of-School Children Rate in KP

A recent report from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) education department reveals that a significant 37% of children in the province are not attending school.

The document highlights a worrying situation, indicating that 4.92 million children in KP are currently without access to formal education.

The situation is particularly dire in Kolai-Palas Kohistan, where 80,333 children are out of school. Similarly, Lower and Upper Kohistan have exceedingly high rates, with 79% of children not enrolled in educational institutions.

In contrast, Upper Chitral demonstrates a more positive outcome, with only 10% of its child population out of school, making it the best-performing district in the province.

The provincial capital, Peshawar, accounts for over 500,000 out-of-school children, including 319,000 girls, highlighting a considerable gender disparity in educational opportunities.

KP Education Minister Faisal Tarakai addressed the issue, acknowledging the crisis and stating that over 4.8 million children are not in the education system. He also mentioned the government’s active efforts to reverse this trend.

“Last year, 1.3 million children were enrolled in schools,” Tarakai stated, adding that the goal for the current year is to enrol an additional one million children. He reiterated the government’s dedication to improving access and reducing disparities in school enrolment throughout the province.

The KP report emerges against the backdrop of a growing national education crisis. The Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2021–22, published by the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) in January, indicated that 26.2 million children across the nation were not attending school.

This figure represents 39% of Pakistan’s school-age children. Although the national out-of-school percentage decreased from 44% in 2016–17 to 39% in 2021–22, the absolute number of out-of-school children has increased from 22.02 million to 26.21 million due to rapid population growth.

Balochistan is the most affected province, with 65% of children out of school, while the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has the lowest rate. The previous estimate for KP’s national average was 30%, but recent provincial data shows the rate at 37%.

The report further emphasizes that at the primary level alone, 10.77 million children are not in school nationwide.

Economic inequalities are a significant contributing factor, disproportionately affecting children from the poorest families. A concerning 60% of children at the higher secondary level and 44% at the high school level are not enrolled in school.